


The Algae Mutation

by F1_rabbit



Series: Voyages of the Starship Estrella [3]
Category: Motorcycling RPF
Genre: Alien Flora & Fauna, Alternate Universe - Star Trek Fusion, Gender or Sex Swap, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 08:22:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13900092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F1_rabbit/pseuds/F1_rabbit
Summary: Marc's scared of water, and when an away mission leads to them swimming through a strange glowing lake that he almost drowns in, he thought that things couldn't get any worse... but the next day he wakes up to see exactly what side effects the strange glowing water has.





	The Algae Mutation

“There’s a faint distress beacon.” Tito peered at the screen, waiting for the computer to find the source of it. “It’s coming from a nearby planet.”

“Is it a Starfleet vessel?”

“I can’t tell, captain.” Tito played the crackly audio, the universal translator having a hard time translating the fragments, and the only word that Marc could make out was help.

“We should contact Starfleet before attempting a rescue mission,” Jorge said, but before Marc could respond, Tito spoke.

“Starfleet are out of contact due to the electrical storm that we just passed through.”

Marc rushed over to where Tito was sitting, staring at the data on the screen. They didn’t have an exact location, and the scanners weren’t picking up any signs of life, but there was still a chance that people were down there and sheltering in caves.

“There could be survivors.” Jorge paused, and Marc knew what he was thinking.

It could be a trap.

“Jorge, you’re in charge of the ship while I’m gone.”

“Yes, captain.” Jorge raised an eyebrow, and Marc knew that look. He disapproved, but he was too uptight to say anything about it.

“Tito, you’re coming with me.”

“Yes, captain.” Tito smiled, he loved getting off the ship and seeing new worlds. Marc envied him, not having to worry about the ship, and all the crew on it.

Marc was almost at the lift when he remembered one last thing that they would need on their away mission.

“Jorge, get Dani to meet me in the transporter room.” Marc saw Jorge’s lips flicker up at the corner, Dani loathed having to use the transporter, but every away mission required a doctor to go with them.

*

Marc had contacted engineering and asked them to send Alex up, but he was surprised to see both Rins, and his brother Alex standing by the door to the transporter room.

“What are you doing here?” Marc glanced up at Alex, and the look of disappointment was like a slap to the face.

“You asked Scotty to send us up?”

Marc face palmed, running his fingers up through his hair to cover it. He’d asked Scotty to send up Alex, and he hadn’t considered the fact that Scotty would send both Alexes.

“You meant Rins, right?”

Marc compressed his lips, but the silence gave Alex his answer.

“I know you don’t think I’m good enough to go on away missions.” Alex turned to leave, but Marc reached out to stop him, grabbing at his arm as Rins stepped back, giving them some privacy.

“It’s not that.” Marc rested his hand on Alex’s shoulder, but Alex shrugged it away.

The words ‘mum would kill me if anything happened to you’ died on his tongue. Alex was old enough to realise the dangers of joining Starfleet, and at least Marc would be able to watch over him on his first away mission.

“We could use an extra pair of hands,” Tito said, and Marc felt relief, he was going to get out of this conversation without looking like he was humouring his little brother.

Marc flashed Tito a quick smile, glad that Tito seemed to be able to read his mind at times like this.

“I don’t get why we can’t just take a shuttle, like in the good old days,” Dani said, grumbling as he heaved all the cases filled with medical equipment down the corridor.

Marc rolled his eyes, he had to hear this every time that they used the transporter.

“One, the transporter is the quickest way. Two, you don’t like travelling in the shuttle either.” Marc gave Dani a playful nudge, and the glare Dani gave him felt like he was trying to make his head explode using only the power of his mind.

Dani groaned, rolling his eyes as Tito and Alex helped him stack the cases in the transporter. Marc watched as Dani took a deep breath, preparing himself for the feeling of being torn apart into his component atoms and then reassembled down on the planet.

“Beam us down, Scotty.”

Marc loved the thrill of it all, a shiver running down his spine as the crackle of static electricity signalled the start of the transportation process. Every hair on his body was standing on end, and for an instant he saw infinity, the universes stretching out in front of him.

And then everything went black.

Marc took a deep breath as he blinked the world into focus, the black sand underneath his feet shimmering with the eerie turquoise glow of the water.

The ship was little more than a blip in the sky, and the planet had four moons that were visible in the night sky.

He heard the sound of a tricorder, and Marc turned to see Tito frowning at the device.

“Where’s the ship?” Marc frowned at the jagged black cliffs, no sign of an easy path for them to reach the top.

“The tricorder says that it’s in the water, approximately five metres below the surface.” Tito knelt down at the edge of the water, Dani using his cases of medical gear as a seat while Alex and Rins stood staring at their very first alien planet.

“Is the water safe?”

“There is no sign of any chemicals that would be toxic to humans, and the glow is from a type of algae.” Tito stuck his finger in the water, disturbing the algae, and it swirled away from Tito as though it was avoiding him.

“I would advise you against swimming in unknown water, captain.” Dani started opening cases, finding out the breathing apparatus that they used for when the atmosphere was toxic, but it would work just as well underwater.

“Duly noted.” Marc glanced at Tito, he was one of the few people that knew of his fear of water. As captain he had to put a brave face on it all, and he was relieved when Tito volunteered.

“I’ll go, I haven’t been swimming in ages.” Tito stripped off his uniform, handing it all to Dani to hold, and Dani’s compressed lips said it all.

“I’ll come with you.” Alex rushed to get undressed, and Rins wolf-whistled as he dragged his eyes over him. “What would Andrea think of you flirting?”

“Hey, I wasn’t flirting, just appreciating.” Rins stuck his tongue out as Alex laughed, pausing at the water’s edge before swimming out to the centre of the lake.

Tito followed, both of them swimming breast stroke so that they could keep their head above water, and Marc felt nervous for Alex. He didn’t usually have this apprehension on away missions, his mind too busy focusing on keeping everyone safe and rescuing the survivors, but no matter what happened or where they went, Alex would always be his number one priority.

Marc’s heart pounded as Alex and Tito disappeared under the water, the ripples fading away as Marc held his breath.

He kept checking the time, sure that his watch was taunting him, saying that a couple of seconds had passed when it felt like hours to him.

An ice age later, or ten minutes if his watch was to be trusted, Marc felt his blood run cold.

“I don’t like this.” Marc slipped off his shoes as he pulled his top over his head, not caring that he was still wearing his trousers as he waded into the lake. “Dani, you stay here, if I’m not back in five minutes contact the ship and get them to send a shuttle down.”

“I’ll come with you.” Rins’ normally manic grin was absent, and Marc knew that he wasn’t the only one that feared the worst.

Wading into the lake, Marc didn’t start swimming until the water was up to his neck, heading for the centre as Rins followed closely behind him.

The lake seemed much bigger than it had from the shore, and Marc paused so that he could look at the screen of the tricorder, checking where the distress beacon was coming from.

Bubbles broke the surface, and Marc took a deep breath, puffing out his cheeks as he dived down into the water, forcing his eyes open as he looked around for any sign of Alex and Tito.

Marc swam lower, approaching the craft, but it was hard work, his lungs burning with the lack of oxygen. He tried to head towards the surface, but he had no idea which way was up, the neon blue glow of the water disorientating him. Torn between heading down to the ship in the hope that they had breathing equipment, or picking a direction and hoping it was up, the decision was made for him by his traitorous body, his lungs inhaling the strange glowing water. His chest felt like it was on fire, and he coughed violently as he fought against the water filling his lungs until everything went black.

*

His eyes flew open, and he saw Dani’s face hovering over him. Dani’s lips were on his before he could say a word, and he felt him breathing into his mouth.

Marc retched, his lungs heaving out the water that he’d swallowed and coughing it all into Dani’s face as the others tried not to laugh.

Dani looked relieved rather than annoyed, and Marc was sure that he must have feared the worst. He managed a weak smile as he rolled over on to his side, spluttering and coughing as Dani scanned him.

“There’s no permanent damage.” Dani peered into his eyes, and Marc could see the faint glow of the water splattered across his face.

“I’m sorry.”

“You’ll be fine.” Dani rested his hand on the back of Marc’s neck, helping him sit up as Marc took a deep breath, his lungs wheezing as he coughed out the last of the water. Now that he could see straight again, he was back into captain mode. “Did you find any survivors?”

“No but look at this.” Tito held up the data recorder, it would have all the details of the ship’s systems as well as all the crew logs stored on it, but they couldn’t access any of that until they got back to their ship.

But they didn’t have to, just the name of the ship told Marc everything that he needed to know.

Starship Agostini.

“We learned about this in the academy.” Marc ran his fingers over the logo, the metal still shiny and bright as though the ship hadn’t been here for longer than Marc had been alive. “It was the first documented use of the transporter beam to rescue the survivors.”

“Did everyone survive?” Dani asked.

“Yes, all crew were accounted for, and made a full recovery.”

“So, why is the ship still broadcasting a distress beacon?” Dani puzzled at the data recorder, but it was sealed tight enough to survive the ravages of outer space.

“I guess no-one thought to switch it off.” Marc shrugged, reaching out for the tricorder to see if there were any other signals around. “We should head back up to the ship, see if the electrical storm has cleared enough for us to report back to Starfleet.”

Marc fumbled around for his top, he hadn’t thought to attach his comms badge to his trousers. Worrying about Alex had clouded his mind, and he was going to have to do something about that if Alex was to stay on his ship.

Dani handed him his top, and the comms badge let out an electronic chirp as Marc touched it.

“Scotty, beam us up.”

“Aye aye, captain.”

Marc felt his lungs burn as the crackle of static electricity signalled the start of the transport process, and he slumped against Dani, still light-headed from his brush with death.

Once they were all safely aboard the ship, Marc felt calmer, but each breath was painful, and he was sure that he’d be feeling the effects of this for days.

“Tito, can you check out what’s on the data recorder? See if there’s anything we should be concerned about.”

“Yes, captain.” Tito rested his forehead against Marc’s, making them both smile. Tito wandered out of the transporter room with the data recorder under his arm, his top slung over his shoulder as though he’d just finished working out at the gym. He was no doubt going to be topless on the bridge in blatant violation of the rules about all crew members wearing their full uniform while on duty, but Marc was too tired to care about that right now.

“Alex, can you and Rins see if we’ve got any contact with Starfleet yet?”

“Yes, captain.” Alex paused before scurrying off, and Marc nodded in the direction of the door, telling him without words that he was going to be fine.

“And you. You are coming with me to sick bay to be checked out.” Dani’s tone of voice said there would be no arguments, and Marc managed a weak smile.

“Yes, doctor.”

*

There was still no way to contact Starfleet, but the data recorder from the Agostini didn’t show anything unusual. The last log entries showed that their sensors had been knocked offline by the electrical storm, and they’d crash landed on the planet.

Marc sipped at his tea, as recommended by Dani, and he thought about calling it a night when someone knocked on his door.

He wasn’t surprised to see Alex standing there, his wavering smile betraying his confident act.

“Hey, how are you doing?” Alex ducked down for a hug as the door whooshed shut behind him.

“I’m fine, Dani says I’ll live.” Marc stuck his tongue out and Alex made himself comfy on the sofa, accepting the cup of tea that Marc poured for him.

Alex waited for Marc to sit down before speaking. “Why did you come into the water?”

“I was worried about you.” Marc hung his head, he knew that Alex didn’t like being the captain’s little brother, but Marc wasn’t sure that he’d ever be able to stop worrying about Alex.

“We had breathing equipment, and it was magical down there.” Alex smiled, his whole face lighting up as he talked. “The way that the water made everything glow was just unbelievable.”

“So, you had fun on your first ‘alien’ planet?”

“Yes.” Alex’s smile was so big that his teeth were bared, and it was contagious. “I know it’s not always like that, that sometimes it’s dangerous and scary, but I joined Starfleet to see the universe, and it’s not quite the same being on the ship.”

“I know what you mean.” Marc nodded, him and Tito had signed up on a dare, and now, he couldn’t quite imagine his life any other way.

There was another knock at the door, and Marc knew that it would be Tito without even getting up to answer it.

“Come in.” Marc had barely opened his mouth when the door opened, Tito strolling in, fully clothed now.

“How are you feeling?”

“Fine.” Marc rolled his eyes, sticking his tongue out as Tito squished in next to him on the small sofa.

Alex glanced at his watch for the fifth time in as many minutes, his eyes darting to the door, and then to Tito.

“Go and spend time with lover boy.” Tito made kissy sounds as Alex blushed. “I’ll take good care of Marc.”

“Tell him all about your big adventure today.” Marc gave Alex a hug, walking him to the door as Tito lounged out on the sofa, his feet hanging off the edge.

“He’s so in love,” Tito said, once the door had closed behind Alex.

“He is, it’s cute.” Marc lay out next to Tito, cuddling in as Tito wrapped his arms around him.

“How are you really feeling?”

“I can’t fool you, can I?”

“Nope.” Tito gave him a kiss on the forehead, and Marc let his eyes fall shut, the tension fading from his body as Tito surrounded him like a blanket.

“Tired, and I feel like a giant is squeezing my chest, but Dani says that’s all usual after nearly drowning.”

Tito relaxed his grip on Marc, giving him space to breathe as Marc yawned.

“Do you want me to stay here tonight?”

“I’d like that.”

***

Marc woke up with a coughing fit, his chest still feeling tight and heavy, like something was pressing into his ribs.

Tito was sound asleep face down on the bed, and only the emergency siren would get him up this early on his day off.

Marc wandered to the bathroom, standing in front of the toilet as he pulled his pyjama bottoms down just enough to free his cock, and he went to grab it so that he could aim. His coordination was still sloppy, his body feeling odd after yesterday’s adventure, and he looked down so that he could get the first of today’s tasks over and done with.

One look at what was there, or rather not there, and he screamed.

Tito came flying into the bathroom, wearing only his Starfleet issue boxers, and Marc was sure that it must be a nightmare. Or a hallucination, he didn’t care, just as long as it wasn’t real. Tito had a pair of breasts, which Marc would have considered nice if they weren’t attached to his best friend, and the front of his boxers were noticeably flatter than usual.

Marc felt at his own chest, his trembling hands sliding up from his stomach, and he flinched when he felt the swell of breasts, his stomach twisting into knots as he gasped for air.

“Are you okay?” Tito rushed over to him, his eyes wide as he stroked the side of Marc’s face, seemingly oblivious to the monumental changes that had happened to him.

Marc saw white spots dancing in front of his vision, the room spinning as he collapsed into Tito’s arms, the world fading away into nothingness.

*

Marc came to in sick bay, the bright white light making him feel even dizzier, and he shielded his eyes from the light as he slowly sat up.

Everyone from the away mission was sitting around, Alex with his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them, and even Rins’ normally bouncy personality seemed deflated today.

Dani was looking at a screen and frowning at whatever was written there, which didn’t fill Marc with confidence.

“What’s happened to us?” Marc was relieved that his voice still sounded like his voice, he couldn’t take any more surprise changes to his body.

“It looks like the strange glowing algae had transmutational genetic properties.”

“What’s that for us non-doctors?” Marc inhaled, for no other reason than he just had to show his annoyance at the whole situation.

“It’s rearranged some of your DNA.”

“How do we un-arrange it?” Marc sat up, staring at Dani, his big eyes begging for an answer.

“I don’t know yet.” Dani bit his lip, shaking his head as he looked back at the screen.

Marc lay back against the pillow, his mind spinning as Alex shuffled on to the bed next to him, Tito moving closer so that he could comfort both of them, and Rins looked so alone.

“There’s space here for you too.” Marc waited for Rins to clamber on to the small bed, his arms folded across his chest as Alex buried his head against Marc’s shoulder. “It’s all going to be okay.”

Dani raised an eyebrow, but he didn’t say anything, right now hope was all they had.

“Why hasn’t it affected you?” Tito asked, he was the only one who seemed unfazed by the changes, although Tito was hard to shock.

“Because I didn’t go swimming in the strange glowing water.” Dani’s voice was level, he was trying his best not to let the sarcasm seep through although he couldn’t stop his eyes from rolling.

The door to sick bay whooshed open, making them all jump, Marc pulling the blanket up, but it did little to hide the curve of his chest.

“Captain.” Jorge looked unbothered by the fact that some of the crew were sitting around with different anatomy to usual, although Vulcans weren’t the people to go to if you wanted an emotional response.

“Jorge, take command of the ship until Dani is sure that there are no other adverse effects.”

“Yes, captain.”

“And Jorge?”

“Yes, captain.”

“Don’t tell anyone about this?”

“Of course.” Jorge left as abruptly as he arrived, and Marc breathed a sigh of relief, at least he could trust Jorge with the ship for as long as he had to.

“Does anyone else know about this?” Marc asked, and both Alex and Rins shook their head. From the startled rabbit looks, both of them had run out on their boyfriends before they could see the changes.

“I’ll get to work on a solution straight away,” Dani said, turning to analyse the samples he’d taken.

“So, what do we do now?” Marc knew that Dani would work better if he was alone, and he didn’t really want to have to spend any longer in sick bay than was absolutely necessary.

“It’s not contagious, but maybe it would be best if you all rested after… the shock.”

“I’ll take everyone back to my quarters, we can hide out there until you find a solution.”

*

Only Tito could turn being mutated by strange alien algae into a party. There was pizza, and beer, and corny twentieth century films.

Marc got up to pee, part of him wishing that he could avoid going to the bathroom for however long it took Dani to undo it. Unsettling didn’t even begin to cover it, he’d never realised how much he took his body for granted.

“Are you okay in there?” Tito’s voice, he had assumed the role of big brother, since he was the only one not freaking out about it.

Marc slunk out of the bathroom, and Tito hugged him, what was normally comforting now a horrible reminder that his body wasn’t his own.

“I really hope we wake up tomorrow and everything’s back to normal.” Marc rested his head against Tito’s shoulder, standing back so that he didn’t have to feel the breasts pressing against him. He couldn’t even begin to think of them as his breasts.

“They seem to be coming to terms with all this.”

“Just as long as Dani finds a solution, everything will be fine.” Marc wrapped his arms around himself, trying to cover up the breasts as though he could pretend that they weren’t there.

“At least they’re talking to each other.”

Alex and Rins had been in the same year at the academy, and Alex had told him that there was a bit of friction between them, mostly caused by their mentors rather than them, so it was a relief to see them getting on.

This situation didn’t need to be any more stressful than it already was.

Marc forced a smile on to his face before grabbing another beer, and he hoped that it looked convincing enough.

***

Two days later, the sick leave was losing its charm, and Team Alex, as they had taken to calling themselves, were getting stir crazy.

The horror of having breasts, and other things, had given way to an annoyance at not being able to leave Marc’s quarters. Dani was no closer to finding a way to reverse what the algae had done, and Marc was starting to fear that they’d be stuck this way forever.

And if Marc was honest, he missed being in charge of the ship, missed seeing everyone.

“Andrea’s going to think that I’m avoiding him,” Rins said, he’d been giving him a whole lot of vague excuses as to why they couldn’t meet up, and they had all been hoping that their situation would be back to normal by now.

“He’s just worried about you, he loves you.” Alex leant in for a hug, stroking Rins’ back as he sniffed.

Tito glanced at Marc, fidgeting with his comms device before slipping into the bathroom.

Marc couldn’t sit still, a little bit of his mind worrying about how people would react if they were stuck like this.

He barely registered Tito sitting down next to him, his presence the only constant in an increasingly chaotic universe.

“Scotty, activate the transporter beam.” Tito waved goodbye to Alex and Rins as their eyes went wide, their bodies frozen as the transporter whisked them away.

Marc’s heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest, and Tito’s smile didn’t reassure him. “Where did you send them to?”

“The holodeck.” Tito winked at him, and Marc took a breath, cuddling into Tito’s shoulder as he cursed the fact that the breasts were digging in, before admitting defeat and sitting back.

“How are you fine with all this?”

“I’m not fine, it’s so weird having these.” Tito squished his breasts together, looking down at them with a mixture of amusement and horror. “But there’s nothing I can do to change it, so…” Tito shrugged, and Marc was amazed that he could put it all out of his mind so easily.

“What if we’re stuck like this?” Marc swallowed down the lump in his throat, and Tito wrapped his arm around him, kissing his forehead as he tried to comfort him.

“I would love you no matter what body you were in.”

*

Dani groaned, resting his head in his hands, the scratch of his stubble reminding him just how long he’d been working on this.

And getting nowhere.

“Computer, lights.” Dani scrunched his eyes shut as the brightness startled him, and there were still white spots floating in his vision when he reached out for his cup of coffee.

He shielded his eyes from the light, groping around his cluttered desk, and that was when he noticed something moving in the sick bay.

Dani screamed, clutching at his heart as his tired brain worked out who it was. Jorge.

“How long have you been sitting there?” Dani wanted to be angry at him, but he couldn’t remember the last time that he’d spoken to someone other than himself. He’d even left the emergency medical hologram to take care of patients so that he could focus on finding a way to reverse the effects of the alien algae.

“I did not want to disturb you while you were working.” Jorge handed Dani the cold coffee, and he downed it without flinching.

“You almost scared me to death.”

“A physical impossibility.” Jorge raised an eyebrow, and Dani wanted to inflict physical harm to the pointy-eared bastard.

Instead, Dani sighed, and Jorge went to fetch him a warm cup of coffee, which tasted like it was more sugar than anything else.

“Are you any closer to a solution?”

“No.” Dani leant back in his seat, forgetting that he wasn’t sitting on it straight and nearly falling off it. That was all he needed, Jorge seeing him like this. “Why are you here?”

“I was worried about you.”

“I didn’t think that you cared.” Dani shook his head, running his tongue over his furry teeth, and he was sure that he looked every bit as awful as he felt.

“It is a well-known phenomenon in physics that opposites attract.”

Dani’s caffeine fuelled mind stepped up a gear, a spark of inspiration fighting its way through the fog of sleep-deprivation.

“Jorge, you’re a genius.”

“Actually, I am only of average intelligence for a Vulcan.”

Dani rolled his eyes, before frantically rushing around sick bay, grabbing all the equipment he needed as his stomach churned at the thought of having to use the transporter twice in one week.

“I need to go back down to the planet, and you’re coming with me.”

*

Marc had got a barely coherent message from Dani telling them to meet him in sick bay, and a shorter but more useful message from Jorge saying that Dani appeared to have found a solution to their problem.

He thought about telling the others, but he didn’t want to get their hopes up.

“Dani needs to run a few more tests.”

Alex groaned, and Rins just looked numb, but hopefully Dani would be able to put everything right.

Herding them out of the quarters, Tito led the way, shielding them from prying eyes, and Marc guarded the rear as they shuffled along the corridors.

Marc breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the door to sick bay, but then Andrea came strolling around the corner, chatting away to Luca.

They worked in the same team, but of all the times for them to be here, together. It was the worst possible timing.

“Alex?” Both Andrea and Luca spoke at the same time, and Marc’s blood ran cold.

“Everyone, into sick bay, now.”

A chorus of ‘yes, captain’ almost made Marc laugh out loud. When everything felt strange and unnatural, the glimpse of normality was jarring.

Marc felt the door rush closed behind him, the tension in the air so thick that he struggled to breathe.

He waited for the screaming to start, but it never came.

It was like finally getting back to Starfleet after a long mission, everyone desperate to see their loved ones again.

“What happened?” Andrea was peering into Rins’ eyes, his concern for his boyfriend clear, and Marc realised he’d misjudged their reactions.

“Away mission gone wrong.” Rins collapsed into Andrea’s arms, letting Andrea hold him, stroking his back as he whispered words of comfort.

“I love you.” Andrea leant in for a kiss, and Marc looked down, the sound of Andrea and Rins making out noisy enough to have Dani rolling his eyes.

Luca rushed in to hug Alex, kissing away his tears as he cried it all out, and Marc felt guilty that he’d kept them apart for the last few days. He’d thought he was sparing Alex the pain, but he’d only caused him more suffering.

Dani tried to get them all to lie out on the beds, although he had little success getting Andrea to let go of Rins’ hand, and they ended up cuddled up on the bed together.

“Who wants to go first?” Dani waved the syringe, smiling at Marc before glancing at Tito, but Marc knew he had to set a good example as captain.

He trusted Dani with his life, he was the best in Starfleet for a reason, and that was why he had insisted that Dani should be part of his crew.

“I will.” Marc rolled up his sleeve, forcing a smile on to his face as Dani pressed the syringe to his skin, pulling the trigger before Marc could even flinch.

There was no burning, or ice running through his veins, and he was still definitely in possession of breasts.

“Nothing’s happening.”

“It’s going to take time for it to work.” Dani rested his hand on Marc’s knee, a rare glimpse of his bedside manners. “And since you almost drowned in the stuff, it might take a little longer for you.”

“Thanks for reminding me.”

“Who’s next?” Dani looked manic wielding the syringe, and Tito held his arm out, looking away as Dani administered the shot.

It didn’t take long for Dani to work his magic, everyone rubbing at their arms as Dani grumbled something about it being the lesser of evils.

“Do we need to stay here?” Alex asked, Luca cuddling in closer as he stroked his hair.

“You should be fine to be discharged under supervision.” Dani glanced at Luca and Andrea, both of them nodding in agreement as they wrapped their boyfriends up in the blankets, shuffling out of sick bay as fast as their legs could carry them.

The door whooshed closed behind them, and Marc let out a groan, lying back against the bed as Dani rushed to scan him.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Yes, it’s just been a long couple of days.”

“Go back to your quarters and get some rest.” Dani nodded at Tito, and he wrapped his arm around Marc’s shoulders, leading him out of sick bay.

“One last thing, how did you manage to find a cure?”

“I had to transport down to the planet, get a sample of the water which contained both strains of the algae. They balanced each other out in the water, but in your body, only half of them had any effect. And after that it was easy separating and then synthesising the corresponding strain.” Dani sat back in his seat, the bags under his eyes telling everyone that he’d spent all night working on this.

Marc couldn’t believe that Dani had done all that for him, including braving the transporter that he loathed so much.

“Thank you.”

“What are friends for?”

*

Alex curled up in bed, Luca wrapped around him as he felt relaxed for the first time in days.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t know how you’d react.”

“I love you, no matter what.” Luca kissed the back of his neck, and Alex smiled, yawning as he pulled Luca’s arm around him.

“I know.” Alex drifted off to sleep, safe in Luca’s arms.

“Sweet dreams, my love.”

*

Marc paced around his quarters, Tito watching him with a mixture of worry and confusion.

“I should go check on Alex.”

“If he had any problems he would be here, or at sick bay.”

“I know.”

“So will you relax then?” Tito patted the sofa, and Marc sat down next to him, and Marc cuddled in, pulling the blanket up over himself.

“What if this doesn’t work?”

“Then Dani will find another solution.” Tito sounded so sure, and Marc envied his confidence.

“But-“

“But nothing.” Tito pressed a finger over Marc’s lips, and Marc stuck his tongue out, making Tito laugh. “Even if this doesn’t work, nanotech will be able to reverse this. It would take a couple of months but it’s possible.”

“I don’t know how I feel about using Borg technology.”

“Some of the finest minds in Starfleet, including Dani, have been developing it, and it has literally hundreds of possible applications.”

“I know, I read the report.”

“So then you know that the early tests have been successful.”

“I know, I just...” Marc shook his head, and Tito moved so that his legs were wrapped around Marc’s waist, holding him close as Marc buried his head against Tito’s shoulder.

“You know no-one expects you to be captain all the time, you’re still allowed to feel scared and confused.”

“Thank you, Jorge.” Marc cackled in laughter, and Tito held his hand up, making the Vulcan sign for live long and prosper.

“We’ve been through way worse situations before,” Tito said, giving Marc a kiss on the forehead, “And we’ll get through this one too.”

“I just want to be able to take a shower without seeing… them.” Marc sighed, Tito comforting him by stroking his back. “And the lack of… other things.”

“I have a solution.” Tito headed off to the bathroom, the sound of running water not helping as Marc resisted the urge to scratch at his grimy skin.

He tried not to think about the last time he’d got a shower, and Tito stuck his head round the door, waving for him to come over.

Marc didn’t want to move, but he forced himself to get up, wondering what Tito could possibly need his help with.

A bubble bath.

“I know it’s not perfect, but hopefully it’ll help you relax enough to sleep.” Tito smiled, giving him a little nudge in the right direction.

“Thank you.”

*

The bath worked, out of sight really was out of mind, and Marc had managed to get a few hours of sleep, Tito curled up next to him for support.

Marc woke to the sound of Tito snoring, and he rolled on to his back. His chest no longer felt tight, and he looked down to see that his body was back to the way he remembered it.

“It worked, it really worked.” Marc threw off the cover, feeling himself to make sure that it wasn’t a dream.

Tito opened his eyes to see Marc touching himself, and he made a show of covering his eyes. “I can see that.”

“Sorry.” Marc laughed as he pulled the sheet back over himself, Tito smiling as he shuffled out of bed.

“I’ve seen you naked before.” Tito stuck his tongue out and Marc couldn’t keep his eyes off it, his smile growing as Tito stretched and yawned. “I told you it would all be okay.”

“Thank you, for keeping me sane through all of this.”

Marc laughed, his eyes wide as tears streamed down his cheeks.

Sane was not a word that anyone had ever used to describe him.

**Author's Note:**

> *and obviously none of this actually happened, it is all a figment of my twisted imagination ;)


End file.
